Happy Monday Tuesday! It was a great long weekend in Pinkhat land, how was yours? I spent time catching up with my best friend, brunched, coffee’d, food prep, errands and running, pretty much all of the good things!
I’ve heard great things about Pilates, especially the reformer class and I did a little research about where I can find them in my area. Lo and behold, there was a Groupon for a studio not far from me and I decided to try it out. Ahhhhmazing! I loved it! The teacher, Jonathan was super nice and patient, class size was small (5 total) and the workout was harder than I anticipated. Joseph Pilates is the guy we get to thank for this, he got the ball rolling and it took off. Pilates is controlled movements that improve flexibility, builds strength and develops control and endurance in the entire body. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Plus, when Coach Michelle found out I went, I got two thumbs up, even better! I attended a class both Saturday and Monday at Diversified Soft Tissue Therapy in Pacific Grove. They will see my pink hat smiling face again!
Sunday was my long run and this is where I reminded myself of Coach’s words, “Get Comfortable with being UNCOMFORTABLE”. I was looking forward to my 10 miles all week, I’m not really sure why, but I was. Maybe it was because the run was going to be my first double digit in a while. I was also excited about fueling with real food, something I haven’t done before. I think it’s the change and something new that I was looking forward to. My plan was to run in the opposite direction I normally do because I wanted a change of scenery.
Tootling along, I felt good and the hills which at one time were challenging, were not that bad. I took each one as they came. It felt good to maintain a consistent pace over them and cruise along. At the halfway point, I stopped to fuel, have a drink of water and gaze at that foggy landscape in the photo above. My fuel was Larabar’s Lemon Bar and figs. I wasn’t sure how fueling with non gel/chews would go, but it was good. I had the bar cut into pieces with the figs in a baggie for easy access.
Heading back the way I came, I felt a twinge in my leg by my knee and knew that I needed to err on the side of caution. Not that I was worried, but a little hitch in my giddy up could turn into something more if I wasn’t smart about this. I’ve been on the bench/injured list too many times and this girl’s got goals to meet! This is where the uncomfortable part came in. I had two options: Walk back or run/walk to ensure whatever this was, wasn’t serious. My option was run/walk, with the back up plan of walking if it really got painful. I’d rather work through the discomfort rather than throwing in the towel completely and that’s what walking would have been to me at that point. I’m not saying that walking is bad, heck, I’ve done my fair share. But I knew it was more of a mental vs physical decision. If my body wasn’t stopping, neither was my mind. Besides, twinges, aches, etc are part of the process.
At the end of the run, I was happy with my run/walk decision. My pace wasn’t too terrible and I took some Aleve at the car.
Plus, I saw my chiropractor yesterday and he agreed, while training things like this come up and I was smart to back off a tad.
When I got home, I used my 93,000 Miles bath jelly for the first time from Lush. They recommend keeping it in the freezer and it felt so good! This particular jelly is good for tired muscles and incorporates mint, cinnamon and eucalyptus into the mix to sooth and recover. Just like the other products I have from there, it was love at first bath! Have you been to Lush, do you have a favorite product?
Well, that’s the scoop on what I’ve been up to, now it’s your turn!
Leave me a comment and let me know….
How your weekend was?
Do you have any favorite bath products?
Have you tried fueling your runs with real food?
XO,
thepinkhatrunner
thepinkhatrunner 
This post was like a Twlight zone moment. =D I too had a twinge so I kept it to 3 miles (and the snow convinced me that was fine) AND I actually keep a Larabar in my sports bra when I run just in case..haha. I’m not to 10 miles *yet* but I just want to be prepared in case I start to run out of puff. That shower jelly looks amazing! And I just looked it up, surprisingly reasonable! I hope your knee feels better!
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Jen, Lush has great products that aren’t expensive!! So far, my knee hasn’t made a peep again, I think it was just cranky! Thanks for the good wishes, happy running my friend!! xo
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“Finding comfort with the discomfort” was a mantra of mine for the last few years. It is incredibly effective for me. it helped me shift from running for fitness to running with a purpose and trying to improve. Best thing ever! 🙂
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